BlankI received this yesterday from our local club.

Steve, K8SP

FCC to Reinstate Morse Code Test



April 1, 2016

Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2016 - Today, the Federal Communications
Commission (Commission or FCC) approved Report and Order 14-987af which
reinstates the Morse Code test for General Class and Amateur Extra Class
licensees. "It was a big mistake eliminating the Morse Code test," admits
Dot N. Dasher, the FCC's director of examinations. "We now realize that
being able to send and receive Morse Code is an essential skill for radio
amateurs. As they say, it really does get through when other modes can't."

Not only will new applicants have to take the test, but General Class
licensees who have never passed a code test will have one year to pass a
5-wpm code test. Similarly, Amateur Extra class licensees that never passed
a code test will have one year to pass a 13-wpm test. Those amateurs that
fail to pass the test will face revocation of their operating privileges.
Materials for administering the examinations will be distributed to
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators by the end of April, so that they can begin
the testing on May 1, 2016.

"This isn't going to be one of those silly multiple-choice type tests,"
noted Dasher. "We're going to be sending five-character random code groups,
just like we did in the old days. And, applicants will have to prove that
they can send, too, using a poorly adjusted straight key."

Technician Class licensees will not be required to take a Morse Code test,
nor will a test be required for new applicants. "We discussed it," said
Dasher, "but decided that since most Techs can't even figure out how to
program their HTs, requiring them to learn Morse Code seemed like cruel and
unusual punishment."

When asked what other actions we might see from the FCC, Dasher hinted that
in the future applicants taking the written exam may be required to draw
circuit diagrams, such as Colpitts oscillators and diode ring mixers, once
again. "We're beginning to think that if an applicant passes an amateur
radio license exam it  should mean that he or she actually knows something,"
she said.

For further information, contact James X. Shorts, Assistant Liaison to the
Deputy Chief of Public Relations for the FCC


"A person cannot survive as a true Spartan fan unless he is a bit of a masochist 
and a very large optimist."

Steve
Lansing, MI